The forum was held under the title “Promoting Investment and Trade Opportunities between Egypt and Indonesia.”

The launch ceremony was led by Head of The Egyptian Youth Council Mohamed Mamdouh, also the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Youth Council and a member of the National Council for Human Rights.

Also present were Ambassador of Indonesia to Egypt Lutfi Raouf, together with a number of diplomatic delegations and elite businessmen from Indonesia, Egypt, Bangladesh, the Emirates, Palestine, Syria and Bahrain. This is in addition to a group of members of the House of Representatives and Senate and executive leaders from both sides.

During his speech, Mamdouh said Indonesia has strong relations with Egypt at all levels, especially with regard to trade and the economy. He also said Egypt is one of Indonesia’s most important trading partners, serving as the main gateway for its products to enter the African continent.

Mamdouh noted that trade exchange between Egypt and Indonesia over the past five years ranged between $1.2-1.5 billion annually.

For his part, the Indonesian ambassador explained that the relations between Egypt and Indonesia span many years. He also emphasised the importance of deepening relations and continuously communicating in all fields, especially in economic and commercial fields in order to open up new horizons for cooperation.

He added that there is an urgent need in the future to advance economic and investment cooperation on a number of basic industries in the Egyptian and Indonesian economy, especially since Indonesia ranks 55th on the list of countries investing in the Egyptian market.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a number of businessmen on the Egyptian and Indonesian sides reviewed some of their common experiences in order to develop aspects of bilateral cooperation in the trade and investment fields and open opportunities for trade exchange between the two countries.